February 28, 2022 - Functional Training

Had a Facebook memory pop up today of time with guys like Jon and Stew and… guys that the Lord allowed to be part of my team… guys that are younger than me, but allowed me to pour into them a little bit, with the hope they would then find others to pour into a little bit… and then I see on the memory list names of guys that were NEXT on the roster that they poured into... 

Discipleship is about finding somebody and making “INTENTIONAL CONTACT” with them… discipleship is about finding somebody to go alongside you and learn not just what the Playbook says but also how the Playbook is FUNCTIONALLY used. Sometimes I think we liken discipleship just unto the Book learning and skip the time-consuming part of doing life together where it is FUNCTIONAL TRAINING (a type of exercise that looks like movements you make in your daily life.)

This is on my mind heavily as I am planning/preparing our NEXT big outreach… SUMMER TRAINING CAMP ’22; which will involve FUNCTIONALLY TRAINING 4-6 young apprentices in how to LEAD by SERVING. Yes, they will be taught the Word but also given an opportunity to use it!

I have often stated that Christ’s model of discipleship was “Go with Me, listen to Me, and when I am gone, do what I did!” It was an apprenticeship of sorts.

Paul’s instructions had the same type of goal in mind… listen to what he told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:

1“You therefore, my son, BE STRONG (which requires training) in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, COMMIT these to faithful men WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH OTHERS ALSO.”

What a beautiful picture of INVESTING in the lives of others! I love the word for COMMIT that is found in the Greek… one of its definitions is to “commit to one’s charge.” IN other words that you are teaching/training others with the idea that they are then CHARGED of CMMISSIONED to do the same… OH yeah, isn’t that a pretty common idea in the church that we are under the GREAT COMMISSION?

So, tell me, who are you making contact with? Who are you intentionally targeting? Has anyone done that for you?

SIDE NOTE: we have an awesome SUMMER TRAINING CAMP ’22 in the plans for 16-25 yr-olds that want to prepare for NEXT!

February 21, 2022 - Are You Ready For Next Season?

 “To everything (turn, turn, turn)… there is a season (turn, turn, turn)… a time to every purpose, under heaven”                (Turn! Turn! Turn! – The Byrds AND Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Season: a period of the year marked by a particular activity/event… a fixed time of year when a particular sport is played… This concept has been heavily on my mind recently… I have been working on a new ministry opportunity for InBounds, and it seems the word keeps popping up in things I am reading in the news or on social media…

I was reading about Michigan’s basketball coach (Juwan Howard) being suspended for the rest of the “season” due to his conduct at the end of game this weekend. So his choices this “season” have shortened it, and could quite possibly affect the next “season” of his life…

I read where my dear friend Mitch has moved and is preparing for, in his words, a “new season.” (Dudes getting hitched!!!)

“Seasons” bring changes… and the Scriptures tell us we need to be prepared…

…Be ready in season and out of season… (found in 2 Timothy 4:2)

For this week’s devotion, I hope it will serve two purposes: encouraging each of us in our walk... and promoting the aforementioned “new ministry opportunity”…

The Greek word for “season” carries a definition that includes the idea of “when the opportunity occurs”

I have recently agreed to extend our InBounds local outreach by serving as a development director for the Marshall Baptist Retreat Center on beautiful Lake Guntersville. As part of this position, I have been asked to develop some new ministry outreach and also to manage what is already taking place… which includes a VERY BUSY summer of hosting groups that are renting the facility. This creates a need for some staffing… which creates an opportunity for our desire to EQUIP young people for ministry… to make them READY FOR OPPORTUNITIES… for each SEASON of their lives.

Here is part of the write-up I did about the TRAINING CAMP opportunity:

“If you are between the ages of 16-25 and wanting to prepare to Go MAD (Make A Difference) in the NEXT SEASON of your life this may be what you are looking for… Your life has been largely regulated by the academic calendar, with summers being the “off-season.” As a coach, I often explain that “the off-season in when championship teams are built!” At your age, every school year tends to be a new SEASON of LIFE… I want to help you get STRONGER (in your faith), more COORDINATED (in how you put that faith into action), and more FOCUSED (in your energy moving forward with your faith)… In a nutshell, to help you improve performance as you prepare for NEXT SEASON!”

So, two things:

1.       Are you poised and prepared to Go MAD when ministry opportunities arise? I often ask why folks don’t tend to share the Gospel or plug into ministry… and the answer I hear most is that people don’t feel prepared or qualified… THEN GET PREPARED OR QUALIFIED!

2.       Do you know any 16-25-year-olds that would be good candidates to spend a couple of months this summer with InBounds in a very intensive TRAINING CAMP? (Which also gives a chance to earn a few dollars)

Get ready for NEXT SEASON!!!

February 14, 2022 - Sunday Morning Sports Section Pride

In my years of writing these devotions and of planning lessons, I have often talked of the importance of being “team first.” I have shared stories of coaches like John Wooden that wouldn’t even put the players’ names on the back of their jerseys because he wanted them to know that the team’s name on the front of the jersey was the one that mattered… I’ve shared stories of former teammates that couldn’t wait to look at the scorebook/stat sheet following games to see how they had done… and one story that came to mind was a teammate that was on the bus showing people the newspaper article that listed him as the leading scorer the night before… he was excited and I remember sitting in my bus seat thinking, “yeah, you got those points because I got the rebounds and got the ball out to you for all of those fast breaks!” (And yes, there was an exclamation mark on the thoughts in my mind that day… I was annoyed!) 

Yet that is where the irony is… I easily have recalled those examples in others and ignored the ones in me… I recently thought about how often I couldn’t wait to grab the newspaper to see if there was a write-up on the previous night’s game with my name in it… In fact, after being frustrated with my teammate bragging about his name in the paper, I guarantee I opened it up on Sunday morning to see where I stood in the scoring list for the region.  I so loved to see my name in print, that as a younger kid I would tear open the Sunday morning sports section each week to see if my name got mentioned in the listing of scores from the bowling alley’s Saturday morning league…  I can even remember giving to the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, not thinking about the kids that would be helped, but waiting for the local break when they would thank folks by name for their gifts or run the names across the ticker at the bottom of the tv screen… We are by nature very self-serving… we love to be noticed!

“Hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Jesus’s words to me in Matthew 7:5)

John Wooden said, “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

I do want us to mature as “players” to the point of not being concerned who gets the credit… I love watching unselfish teams/players that simply make the right plays in serving their teams.

More of Jesus’s words to us: “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do… Assuredly, I say they have their reward.” (Matthew 6:2)

(Note: It is not wrong to be praised for “good play.” it is wrong to seek praise for “good play!”)

Let’s simply look to make the team better this week!

February 7, 2022 - D up! Mark him! Build your coaching tree!

This week’s devo will have some familiar feel to it with past game plans I have shared on here… yet it is a subject that is fresh on my mind and dear to my heart. Recently I was sitting in an interview for a part-time gig that will enhance our InBounds local outreach. It was a great time of discussing some ideas for stewarding a property for ministry, and during that discussion I was asked about my  willingness to work with leaders at churches that have smaller groups or limited funds to have full time guys in place… or maybe inexperienced folks in leadership… 

I just about came out of my seat with excitement on responding very simply that I am truly more concerned with my “coaching tree” than how many events I speak at, etc. Don’t get me wrong I love speaking at churches/events and getting to share the Gospel and the Playbook! BUT I really love coaching coaches…

So, what do I mean by “coaching tree”? Basically, that is the folks that have served under one’s tutelage and then gone on to lead and have people serve under their tutelage… For example, Larry Brown was a successful college and pro basketball coach when it comes to wins and losses, BUT if you look at his 5 years when he was the head coach at the University of Kansas, he had assistants like John Calipari, Bill Self, Greg Popovich, Mark Turgeon, Alvin Gentry, and Tim Jankovich… this list is just during those 5 years… a list of Hall of Fame caliber coaches. One article I read about that coaching tree stated that it was no wonder the Jayhawks won a national championship during that time. I believe that happened because Coach Brown intentionally found guys he could groom to carry on the work effectively.

We love to use the word discipleship in our Christian circles, and that can refer to anything from having a weekly Bible study with a group, to very intentional 1v1 opportunities that develop. Biblically I believe we are commanded to find those 1v1 coaching tree relationships… folks to be our assistants with the goal of them being head coaches.

2 Timothy 2:2 And these things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, COMMIT these to faithful men who will be able to TEACH OTHERS ALSO.

Do you see the intentionality of developing coaches/teachers? So, when this old coach yells “D Up!”, I am encouraging you to find someone and truly disciple with intentionality… or, another way we yell it in the sports world… “Mark him!”

Build your coaching tree!